ALL-IN-ONE VINYL DECK ELIMINATES ALL HASSLE

I always feel I’m letting other middle-aged men down by the fact that it’s my wife, not me, who’s the vinyl fan in our house. Of course, I’m still involved in my unofficial capacity as in-house tech support – wrestling with cables and phono amps so she can enjoy Kate Bush’s shriek at its piercing best. So I heave a sigh of relief with decks like Pro-Ject’s Juke Box E

(€415, ★★★★★). It’s vinyl, minus the pain. It’s all there in the box, from phono amp to amp to belt-driven deck. Crucially, unlike most other all-in-ones for less than €400, it’s not terrible. The sound via the built-in 25W amp is warm enough for you to bore your house guests rigid about it for the next few years. Even the Ortofon cartridge which comes with it is pretty decent. You can connect up any old passive stereo speakers (or run it into the back of another system if you need). There’s also a Bluetooth receiver built-in, so skinflints like myself can connect a phone and listen to Spotify.